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BASTROP — The county’s first stop for families going through periods of transition has been hit hard over the last four years, but more growth is on the way.
The Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry & Support Center provided more emergency food assistance, education and support for county residents in 2023 than ever before in its 36-year history, according to Director of Marketing and Communications Kelly Manfredini. The team served over 80% more of their neighbors than just three years prior.
The local leader of emergency and ongoing support surpassed these concerning heights all from an aging campus – including a building more than 100 years old. Organization leaders now look to better situate themselves for these troubling times of high demand.
“Compounding the facility challenges of working from aged buildings is the lack of adequate storage and the spread-out nature of the facilities on our campus. All of these challenges and inefficiencies hamper their ability to serve the neighbors who rely on them most,” said Manfredini.
The overarching goal of the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry is to continue to address food insecurity and the root causes of poverty in rural Bastrop County now and in the future. To do this, they need to build the infrastructure and systems necessary to meet the growing needs of their neighbors, according to the director.
This spring, the Food Pantry is launching the public phase of its Good Neighbors capital campaign, looking to build a new 9.2 thousand- square-foot facility and remodel its Fayette Street building.
The new facility will allow the Food Pantry to double its ability to house and distribute food and will include a “grocery store” that will allow neighbors to “shop” for the food that would best serve their families. This increases dignity in the process of asking for food as well as cut down on waste, as the families only take the food they enjoy eating, added Manfredini.
Expansions will also include an extra intake room so that more neighbors can be served at a time, and the remodeled Fayette Street building will be turned into a community nutrition and education center. The center will feature a commercial kitchen and computer lab to hold workshops and demonstrations around nutrition, job readiness, resume help, scam prevention and budgeting, according to the representative.
“Rural communities like Bastrop often lack a onestop- shop type of services and meeting spaces for community organizations and groups to meet. The new facility will allow the Food Pantry to provide space for other local non-profits to assist clients through a wrap-around service of care model,” Manfredini said.
The hub will have space for local non-profit representatives to gather and collaborate on better integration of support services across the board in the county.
“This new campus will fill this gap by responding to the micro needs of serving their neighbors in crisis, and the macro needs of serving the community,” added Manfredini.
More information about the initiative is available at https://www.bastropfoodpantry.
